Blast at Pakistani mosque killed 29

Attacks against religious minorities have been on the rise in Pakistan, where radical Sunni Islamist groups often target mosques frequented by Shi'ites, whom they see as infidels.

At least 29 people were killed, and more than 50 wounded, in an explosion that ripped through a crowded Shi'ite mosque in Pakistan on Friday, underscoring a growing tide of sectarian violence in the South Asian nation.

According to police, it was unclear what caused the explosion during Friday prayers at the mosque in the busy center of Shikarpur, a city in Pakistan's southern province of Sindh.

Part of the mosque collapsed after the explosion, burying some of the wounded under rubble. Bystanders pulled them out and piled them into cars for the journey to hospital.

"The death toll has now reached 29," Shaukat Memon, a doctor at a city hospital, told Reuters. More than 50 people were wounded, officials said.